Abuja 12^th September 2017. The President of the ECOWAS Commission Marcel de Souza sued for a stronger collaboration by its partners, the United Nations (UN) organizations as well as other international agencies in the maintenance of peace and security in the region.

The president gave this indication while receiving letters of accreditation from Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Heads of Delegations and Permanent Representatives to Nigeria and with concurrent accreditation to ECOWAS in Abuja, Nigeria on the 11^th of September 2017.

President de Souza told the diplomats separately that apart from the challenges of integration and humanitarian needs, the issues of peace and security are now such that demands the utmost collaboration with ECOWAS partners as the region confronts the scourge of terrorism, insurgency and natural disasters.

“We want to reinforce our current cooperation with your Missions and nations during your tenure. We need to work harder to make our existing relations stronger and for more intense engagements. It is also important to see how we can jointly tackle the issues of peace and security in our region, as you know, without peace and security, integration is severely hampered” The President added.

Session after session with the envoys, the President restated the Commitment of the ECOWAS Commission to the integration of West Africa. With their support and assistance, he maintained, ECOWAS can achieve more and would be able to deal with old and emerging economic and social trends such as irregular migration, trans-border health issues and youth empowerment.

He disclosed during the meetings that it was a testament to the positive direction in which ECOWAS was moving that countries geographically outside West Africa such as Morocco, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe and Tunisia are now willing to join the fold which could give a major boost to an enlarged market already having over 300 million people.

There were commitments secured from the envoys on continuous collaboration and knowledge sharing on identified areas which include early warning, joint security initiatives, with a view to dealing collectively with terrorists’ activities such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and the disturbing violence in parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo.

Other commitments covered the renewal of expired Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), cooperation agreements, working together on statelessness and migration management, constant communication of specific needs, requests for working visits and meetings, the mainstreaming of gender equality and the contribution of women to the economic and political life in ECOWAS member countries.

The envoys stated their determination to give ascendancy to the existing relations between their states/entities and ECOWAS while pledging to work continuously in collaboration with the Commission in order to help in the realization of the lofty Community programmes and projects.

The envoys who presented their letters for due accreditation were their excellences Bollavaram Naggabhushana Reddy (India), Jens-Petter Kjemprud (Norway), Inger Ultvedt (Sweden), Stuart Symington (USA), Paulette Adjovi (Benin) Christopher Thornley (Canada), Lene Dimban (Togo), Morteza Zarchi (Iran), Antonio Canhandula (United Nations Commissioner for Refugees), Eloi Fillion (Head of Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross), Ms Comfort Lamptey (UN Women Representative to Nigeria)and Dr. Diene Keita (UN Fund for Population Activities).

Photos